MarketsFarm — The Scoular Company has made a deal to sell its edible beans business in Manitoba and the northern U.S. to a Michigan edible bean processing and exporting co-op.
Cooperative Elevator Co., which is owned by over 1,100 U.S. farmers and operates mainly in Michigan’s “thumb” northeast of Flint, announced Friday it will buy the bean business for an undisclosed sum.
Scoular’s edible bean business includes the former Roy Legumex processing plants at Plum Coulee and Morden, Man. It also has a plant at St. Hilaire, Minn., about 130 km south of the Manitoba border.
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Also included in the deal are Scoular’s receiving stations at Grafton and Garske, N.D., both of which are about 90 km south of the Manitoba border.
The sale will allow Cooperative to expand its geographic footprint, while also allowing Scoular to focus on its other core businesses, the companies said.
Scoular bought the edible bean business in 2015, paying $94 million for the special crops division of Winnipeg’s Legumex Walker as the latter company wound down operations.
Cooperative is based at Pigeon, Mich., about 160 km northwest of Sarnia, Ont. It has 11 locations in Michigan and one in North Dakota.
